Grim table saw story.....good ending!

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] About two weeks ago I bought a used Monkey Ward 12" table saw. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I spent two days in the shop working on the saw to bring it back into the world of the living, [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] fixing the leveling casters, freeing up the trunion with WD-40, and beginning the multi-step adjustment process. From all appearances, it is a very LOW HOURS saw. While I was working on it I discovered to my horror that the main drive uses a cog belt from the motor shaft to the arbor shaft pulley. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] I already knew what that meant!!! [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Any tool that has been sitting for years, and has a cog belt will necessarily cough up the belt in pieces as soon as the tool is put in use. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] As expected, the old and hardened belt shredded on the second test cut. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] I tried to have "relaxed concern" about it, but the fact is that I have a power planer here that has a shredded belt and has not run in four years because I couldn't find a replacement belt. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Sooooo....trying not to panic, I used Al Gore's slick invention (the internet) and put in: "Mongomery Ward Saw Belt" and up comes a website for a tool outfit in Massachussetts. I e-mailed them on Thursday with the specs and info. Friday goes by....no reply...DRAT!....then Saturday morning I'm looking through the EIGHTEEN junk e-mails that came in overnight and I find five for perscription drugs, six for male organ enhancements, three for hot stocks to buy, one for items that I didn't buy and didn't pay for on e-bay, one for a home loan that I didn't request, one from a bank I never heard of requesting all of my personal information, and one from TOOL KRAFT telling me that they have those saw belts IN STOCK! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I cannot possibly describe the relief that I felt to have located a replacement belt!!! They will be shipping two belts to me today for 38 bucks including S&H. WHEW!!! [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[GaryM]

Glad you were able to find the part you needed. Back to cutting in no time.

I have a Sears Craftsman contractor's saw and I replaced the factory belt with one of those link belts. Also replace the cast motor and arbor pulleys with machined pullys. made the saw run a lot smoother that when I bought it.

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Actually, this is my first-ever table saw and I'm sort of creeping up on learning to run it. I'm a Rembrandt with my 12" DeWalt Radial Arm Saw, but have not used table saws very much. I've had my neighbor's 10" Craftsman table saw here for quite a while but have only used it a few times. I noticed in the Monkey Ward instruction book that it does say: "Even though this saw is made to accommodate a 12" blade, it is recommended that you use a 10" or smaller blade for most work and only use a 12" blade when a 3-3/4" cut is needed." With only a 12 AMP motor, I can see why they would put that paragraph in the Owner's manual. My DeWalt is 18 AMPS if you were to run it on 120 volts, and my neighbor's 10" Craftsman is 15 AMPs. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[egon]

Gary; I am thinking of replacing one of the belts on my band saw with a Link Belt from Lee Valley. It is quite short and slips.
[img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Egon

[Bird]

Dave, I'm glad you had such good luck, but I also wonder why you wanted that Monkey Ward saw if you had a Craftsman AND a radial arm saw. I've got a little cheap Craftsman 10" table saw myself, but down on the farm I had a Craftsman radial arm saw. The radial arm costs too much, but I sure do like them.

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] I do have a dandy 12" DeWalt Contractor's Model Radial Arm Saw, and I definitely DO know how to get the most out of it. When it comes to trim work, however, there are a few things that a table saw definitely does better....and with more precision. For that reason, we moved my neighbor's 10" Craftsman saw from his shop over to mine for a temporary period of time....which has turned out to be over a year now.. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img] ...... so I went on the hunt for a good used table saw so I can take his back, and found this Monkey Ward at a "moving sale" for 75 bucks. The DeWalt I have now is my THIRD radial arm saw....I've had a 7-1/2" DeWalt, a 10" Craftsman and now this 12" DeWalt. The Craftsman was new, both DeWalts were used. There were a few features on that Craftsman that I actually liked better than the DeWalt, but I just HAD to have a 12", and when I saw this 12" DeWalt at auction, it was love at first sight and a high bid of 465 bucks. Right now, in addition to the Monkey and the DeWalt, we have three Skilsaws one 6-1/2" and two 7-1/2" set for Paneling, Cross-cut, and Rip respectively, a 10" compound miter saw and assorted saber and jig saws. We rarely have to change blades; it's faster to pick up a different saw. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] Only one of my Skilsaws was bought new; the rest are all fugitives from auction sales, purchased for 5 to 15 dollars tops....usually with a shredded cord. I had a fourth Skilsaw, a nice 7-1/2", but gave it to my neighbor last summer when his went to the Valhalla of power tools amid a blue cloud of smoke. Thank goodness for estate sales! [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Dave, you obviously do a little more woodworking than I do. The Craftsman radial arm saw I had was one I bought new and the only one I've ever owned. But I sure did like it. I sold it to a friend and neighbor when I was moving back to town 4 years ago, temporarily in an apartment. I also sold my two circle saws, my air saw, and my chain saw. So when I bought this house, I thought about buying another radial arm saw, but just didn't see any liklihood of me using it enough to be worth the cost. So I've just got the cheap table saw, a Makita reciprocating saw, and a sabre saw.

[GaryM]

Egon,

This is the belt I'm talking about.

PowerTwist Belt

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] For years I just had the usual "homeowner-level, repair this or that", occasional saw projects, and THEN we retired and moved to Iowa and bought a 100-year old farmhouse and haven't stopped sawing ever since. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Over the last four years I've learned to do trim work and detail work that was heretofore out of the quesion for my level of skill. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Luckily, our neighbor is a superb carpenter and as such he has been a great resource not only for his skills, but for his mentorship as well. I look at some of the Oak-trimmed Pella windows in this house and it still amazes me that my wife and I actually did the work ourselves. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] The right saws, and the right air nailers are really the key to doing such work; without that, I would wreck everything I came in contact with trying to drive nails. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[egon]

Those are the type I am looking at.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]